December 2024

Your Most Important Procedure

Posted on Dec 18th, 2024 by Norm Howe

I taught a course on Quality Systems at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.  Because I’m lazy I decided that I’d ask my friends to come in and guest lecture.  That didn’t work to well, probably because most of my friends just like to drink beer and watch football.  So I ran out of guest lecturers in a hurry.

My backup plan was a moonshot.  I called up the Detroit office of FDA and asked if they had anyone who would like to give a seminar at UoM.  Amazingly they did.  And who should show up but the Director of the Office of Compliance.

Motivation by Eyeball Management

Posted on Dec 3rd, 2024 by Norm Howe

If you manage people, you probably worry that sometimes they might take advantage of your good nature and relax a bit on company time.  Here’s a story from many years ago that even today will make you think.